Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention Which Shaped the Modern Globe
There are many contenders for the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor should go to the mechanised sawmill invented through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a simple trading ship required around ten lumberjacks laboring for three months,” notes the author. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to this speedy automated saw, which turned timber to boards with almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to build ships faster compared to any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial as well as cultural supremacy across the continent and the globe.
The Original True Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component transformed its rotary motion to vertical action to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same spinning movement into a lateral movement advancing the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead one precise increment each stroke.
“Every component was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate them in order that the machine acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every descending stroke and moving with each return motion. It was an astonishingly clever application of fundamental components.”
A fact that brings us up to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism that turns rotary movement into up-and-down action. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so that the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time with the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s most impactful creation.
